Improvement in machines for drying wool



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

l HIRAM SMITH, OF WOROESTER, ASSIGOR TO JESSE A. LOGKE, OF WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR DRYING WOOL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,148, dated September 29, 1863.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, HIRAM SMITH, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Machinery or Apparatus for Drying Vool orother Fibrous Substances; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawin gs, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved machine, a portion of the box for holding the wool being broken away to show the steam-pipes beneath 5 Fig. 2, a section on the line .fr av of Fig. 1 5 Fig.` 3, a view of the fan detached. Y

In wool-drying machines as heretofore constructed the wool, after being spread upon au extended perforated surface, has been dried by a current of air generated by the revolution of a fan placed at one or both ends of the air-chamber, over which the material to be dried is spread. These fans have occupied so small a portion of the hollow chamber that on account of their limited width a very high rate of speed was requisite to obtain a sufficient blast, (say about two thousand revolutions per` minute.) When such rate of speed was attained a considerable amount of power was consumed, and the bearings were rapidly worn away, thereby rendering the running of of these fans exceedingly expensive.

The nature of my invention consists in the I employment of a fan which extends throughout the whole length of the air-chamber, by which I am enabled, with acomparatively slow rate of speed, (say about six hundred revolutions per minute,) to force as much air through the wool as with a fan as heretofore constructed, making about two thousand revolutions per minute.

My invention also consists in an improved distributing-board,whereby the blastis evenly diffused along the under surface of the wool, causing it to be dried in a thorough and uniform manner.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the accompanying drawings,A is the case or body of the machine, of metal or other suittable material, of the form shown in the drawings, in the lower part of which is formed the hollow chamber B, extending throughout the whole length of the machine. In this chamber B is placed the fan O for forcing the air up through the wool to be dried. This fan is constructed in apeculiar manner, as will bedescribed hereinafter, and is drivenby a pulley, a, on the end of its shaft, which is driven by a band from the driving-wheel D. Above the division-plate b are arranged a series of steampipes, a, in the ordinary manner, to which steam is admitted from any suitable generator at s, and passes out at t. Over these pipes is placed the box or receptacle F, in which the wool or other fibrous material is placed. This box ts tightly onto the frame of the machine, and is held in place by the pins c, which fit into corresponding holes in the frame. The bottom ofthe box F is made of wire-gauze or perforated metal, so as to readily allow the air from the fau to pass up through 1t into contact with the wool to be dried.

The construction of the fau O will now be described.

To the shaft d, which runs in bearings in the frame-work, are secured, at suitable intervals, the arms e. To these arms e are secured, in any suitable manner, long strips or floats f, of the required width. g are brace or stay rods, which run the entire length of the fan, and pass through the arms e, being tightened up by the screw-nuts h ou each side of the arms e, by which means the fan is strengthened and rendered rigid as required. By thus constructing the fan of great length, instead of as heretofore, I am enabled to force a large amount of air with a comparatively slow rate of speed and small amount of power, thus avoiding the objections and expense attending the employment offans running at a very high rate of speed.

For the purpose of distributing the air from the fan evenly over the surface ofthe steampipes, and thus causing an equal amount of heat to be transmitted to the wool, I employ the followingdevice, which Iterm a distributing-board.77 G is an opening in the hollow cylinder B, extending the whole length ofthe machine, through Which the air from the fan passes into contact with the steam-pipes. Over this opening is placed the distributing-board H, composed of metal or other suitable material, and secured at each end to the case or frame. The air, as it is driven through the opening G by the fan, impinges on the distributing-board H, and passes through the pas sages ik on either side of the board H. The opening G being on one side of the machine and not in the center, the passage i' is made Wider, in order that a stronger blast may be admitted on that side so as to reach the steampipes Which are farthest removed from the openings G.

By means of the above-described device the air is distributed evenly over the surface of the steam-pipes, and thence passes with a uni- 

